is it me or is the NHS absolutely 'kin useless?!

I have long suspected that I am autistic and recently did the thing of going 'all-in' studying my difficulties and all the potential causes and I identified my two issues.

It turns out that doing a deep dive on a lifetime of emotional trauma is not as much fun as it sounds.... And I felt it would be good to get some help 'from the experts' on my two issues to help me sort through things and develop better strategies for dealing with people.

contacted the local iapt service, described the issues and what I needed. Was told they would direct me to relevant autism support services and counseling services.

I received an email which was little more than a bunch of links. all but one of the autism links were for children with autism or family support or simply broken links ... there may be one contact that could be of some use, and that was just a pdf of local services.

Regarding the counseling links ... none were anything to do with my issue.

Fortunately I am ok-ish working through my issues myself, ... but if this is the level of 'care' shown by NHS mental health services ...  how many people who contact them are made to feel even more desperate / abandoned / alone by the response.

I'm inclined to not even give feedback as to do so would invite retaliation, as anyone this sh1t at their job will need to hide their incompetence / callous disregard somehow. 

Parents
  • Sounds frustrating +++++ 
    May I suggest you consider requesting a formal diagnosis through Right to Choose RTC. Psychiatry-UK do NHS funded autism diagnoses which are available on RTC and the waiting list is MUCH shorter. You will need your GP’s support for the referral for RTC. 

    Healthwatch and/or an advocacy service that includes advocacy for autism may be able to assist you with this process should you decide to persevere in your attempts to get a diagnosis and/or other support for your mental health. 

    There are also a good number of autistic autism educators on YouTube. Some good ones are: Purple Ella, Autism from the Inside and Autistimatic. 

    Depending on where you live there may be some sort of autism peer support run by and for autistic people or just a general support group (often run by autism parents). 

Reply
  • Sounds frustrating +++++ 
    May I suggest you consider requesting a formal diagnosis through Right to Choose RTC. Psychiatry-UK do NHS funded autism diagnoses which are available on RTC and the waiting list is MUCH shorter. You will need your GP’s support for the referral for RTC. 

    Healthwatch and/or an advocacy service that includes advocacy for autism may be able to assist you with this process should you decide to persevere in your attempts to get a diagnosis and/or other support for your mental health. 

    There are also a good number of autistic autism educators on YouTube. Some good ones are: Purple Ella, Autism from the Inside and Autistimatic. 

    Depending on where you live there may be some sort of autism peer support run by and for autistic people or just a general support group (often run by autism parents). 

Children